These Brene Brown quotes on shame will help you to overcome self-sabotaging beliefs so you can experience more happiness and lead your best life. Are you ready to show up and do some uncomfortable work? Brene Brown can help!
Who Is Brene Brown
Brené Brown is an American research professor and best selling author. She was born in San Antonio Texas on November 18, 1965. So she’s a Scorpio, which is just perfect since Scorpio souls are not afraid to stare down the darker side of life in order to understand and overcome it.
Because as you probably already know, Brene Brown has spent over 20 years researching shame, empathy, and courage.
Professor Brown believes we need to move through vulnerability and into courage, in order to experience happiness in our lives. She also shares important differences between shame and guilt. In fact, she says guilt is a good thing!
I hope you find peace in these encouraging quotes. There’ll be no shame in your game by the time you finish the list!
More Quotes for Your Healing Journey:
Louise Hay Quotes to Heal Your Life
Brene Brown Quotes on Shame
Guilt, regret, and shame are among the most toxic of all emotions. So if I could offer one piece of advice, it would be to remember that you are here to learn.
So as long as you’ve grown wiser as a result of your experiences, you’ve been successful. I’ve found that if you can learn to cherish life’s lessons, you can use that newfound wisdom to create the upgrades you deserve.
Dr. Brown encourages us to see vulnerability as a strength, instead of a weakness, and to talk about shame, in order to heal it. If you haven’t seen it, she gives a really great TED Talk on shame. Somehow she manages to cover this subject with a sense of humor.
So if you feel guided, do check her out because she is very endearing, wise, and I haven’t seen anyone delve into the topic of shame so holistically.
Here’s what Brene Brown says about shame.
“What we don’t need in the midst of struggle is shame for being human.”
“Shame corrodes the very part of us that believes we are capable of change.”
“You cannot shame or belittle people into changing their behaviors.”
“Shame is that warm feeling that washes over us, making us feel small, flawed, and never good enough.”
“If we share our story with someone who responds with empathy and understanding, shame can’t survive.”
“Shame is the most powerful, master emotion. It’s the fear that we’re not good enough.”
“If we share our shame story with the wrong person, they can easily become one more piece of flying debris in an already dangerous storm.”
“If you put shame in a petri dish, it needs three ingredients to grow exponentially: secrecy, silence, and judgement.
“We desperately don’t want to experience shame, and we’re not willing to talk about it. Yet the only way to resolve shame is to talk about it.”
If you put the same amount of shame in the petri dish and douse it with empathy, it can’t survive.”
“Shame works like the zoom lens on a camera. When we are feeling shame, the camera is zoomed in tight and all we see is our flawed selves, alone and struggling.”
Brene Brown Quotes on Vulnerability
You know the feeling of ‘putting yourself out there’ and how uncomfortable it can be. It’s scary to express yourself because rejection can be downright terrifying.
This is totally understandable since it’s human nature to want to be accepted by others. In fact, in our tribal days, survival depended on it.
This is what vulnerability is all about: it takes quite a bit of courage to express yourself authentically. These qualities can be learned and strengthened, just like any other skill.
So if you lack confidence, or suffer from low self-esteem or anxiety, you can do some solar plexus chakra healing to bring yourself relief.
In addition, if you find it difficult to express yourself authentically, you should focus on throat chakra healing. This is your center for self expression, and when you don’t allow yourself to be who you are, your throat chakra becomes blocked, which makes it very difficult to connect with others.
If you’re unfamiliar with what a chakra is, read What is a Chakra? Here’s Your Quick Start Guide
Here’s what Brene Brown says about being vulnerable.
“Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren’t always comfortable, but they’re never weakness.”
“Staying vulnerable is a risk we have to take if we want to experience connection.”
“Vulnerability is the core of shame and fear and our struggle for worthiness, but it appears that it’s also the birthplace of joy, of creativity, of belonging, of love.”
“Vulnerability is not about winning or losing. It’s having the courage to show up even when you can’t control the outcome.”
“Vulnerability is about showing up and being seen. It’s tough to do that when we’re terrified about what people might see or think.”
Vulnerability in Relationships
“Waking up every day and loving someone who may or may not love us back, whose safety we can’t ensure, who may stay in our lives or may leave without a moment’s notice, who may be loyal to the day they die or betray us tomorrow – that’s vulnerability.”
“If you show me a woman who can sit with a man in real vulnerability, in deep fear, and be with him in it, I will show you a woman who, A. has done her work and, B. does not derive her power from that man. And if you show me a man who can sit with a woman in deep struggle and vulnerability and not try to fix it, but just hear her and be with her and hold space for it, I’ll show you a guy who’s done his work and a man who doesn’t derive his power from controlling and fixing everything.”
Brene Brown Quotes on Courage
If you need a dose of bravery, you’re in the right place! There is no pleasing everyone. And more importantly, your soul came here to explore, experiment and expand.
Your time here is precious!
So here’s your written permission slip to stop holding yourself back out of fear of what others might think (we’re usually wrong about what others are thinking, anyway).
Consider all the remarkable people who inspire you. Not a single one of them hasn’t been criticized, rejected, or misunderstood along the way. But aren’t you glad that didn’t stop them from sharing their talent and gifts with the world? The exact same goes for you.
In fact, Dr. Brene Brown is no exception to this rule. Did you know that no one would publish her first book back in 2004, I Thought It Was Just Me? So she self-published, kept going, and it was picked up by Penguin Publishing 3 years later. The rest is history (or her-story, to be accurate)!
So set intentions right now to worry less about gaining approvals and allow more of your true self to shine through, because you are amazing.
Here are the best Brene Brown quotes on daring and courage.
“Daring to set boundaries is about having the courage to love ourselves even when we risk disappointing others.”
“As a shame researcher, I know that the very best thing to do in the midst of a shame attack is totally counterintuitive: Practice courage and reach out!”
“Daring leaders work to make sure people can be themselves and feel a sense of belonging.”
“Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen.”
“If you trade your authenticity for safety, you may experience the following: anxiety, depression, eating disorders, addiction, rage, blame, resentment, and inexplicable grief.”
“Faith is a place of mystery, where we find the courage to believe in what we cannot see and the strength to let go of our fear of uncertainty.”
“When we find the courage to share our experiences and the compassion to hear others tell their stories, we force shame out of hiding, and end the silence.”
“Courage is not staying quiet about things that make us uncomfortable.”
“When we make the choice to dare greatly, we sign up to get our asses kicked. We can choose courage or we can choose comfort, but we can’t have both. Not at the same time.”
What Brene Brown Says About Guilt Versus Shame
Even your unwanted, negative emotions are sacred and useful. This is because negative emotions are indicators that you have an opportunity to grow, expand, or heal in some way.
Nothing bad is going to happen by shining a light on those truths you don’t want to acknowledge. In fact, the opposite is true: conquering those fears will put you on the fast track to healing. Plus, you deserve the freedom that comes with owning your truth.
Remember, you are allowed to screw up, feel bad, reflect, learn , and move on. This is a sacred part of the human experience!
The Brene Brown quotes below explain the distinct difference between guilt and shame.
“I believe that if we want meaningful, lasting change we need to get clear on the differences between shame and guilt and call for an end to shame as tool for change. That also means moving away from labeling.”
“Shame is a focus on self, guilt is a focus on behavior. Shame is “I am bad.” Guilt is “I did something bad.”
“I believe that guilt is adaptive and helpful – it’s holding something we’ve done or failed to do up against our values and feeling psychological discomfort.”
“Guilt is good. Guilt helps us stay on track because it’s about our behavior. It occurs when we compare something we’ve done – or failed to do – with our personal values.”
Brene Brown Quotes on Leadership
It’s time to pick the lock of your own cage and be free!
As you think of the word leadership, notice the feelings and situations that come to mind. In which areas of life is your personal power trying to surface?
These Brene Brown quotes on leadership can help you reclaim your natural born power. You are perfectly qualified and entitled to create positive change in your life, without permission or approval from anyone else! True leadership begins within yourself, and these quotes are a perfect starting point.
“Leadership is not about titles or the corner office. It’s about the willingness to step up, put yourself out there, and lean into courage. The world is desperate for braver leaders. It’s time for all of us to step up.”
“Show up for people in pain and don’t look away.”
“Daring leaders must care for and be connected to the people they lead.”
“A brave leader is someone who says I see you, I hear you. I don’t have all the answers, but I’m going to keep listening and asking questions.”
“Write a new ending for yourself, for the people you’re meant to serve and support, and for your culture.”
“I define a leader as anyone who takes responsibility for finding the potential in people and processes, and who has the courage to develop that potential.”
Brene Brown Quotes on Gratitude
You deserve to be happy, my friend. But sometimes we tend to overcomplicate things by adopting beliefs that we need to materialize our desires before we can be happy.
Actually, the opposite is true. When you make it a practice to look for reasons to be joyful in the now, the universe will always respond by bring you more to be happy about.
You can read more about this concept here: What Is Law of Attraction? Intro To Manifesting
Here is what Brene Brown has to say about gratitude and happiness.
“I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness – it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude.”
“Want to be happy? Stop trying to be perfect.”
“Because true belonging only happens when we present our authentic, imperfect selves to the world, our sense of belonging can never be greater than our level of self-acceptance.”
The Best Books by Brene Brown
These Brene Brown quotes on shame, vulnerability, and courage are taken from her books. Here’s a list of her most popular work, with the Amazon description from each.
You can read these books for free when you sign up for a free trial of Audible.
I’ll include links below for each book. From there, you can sign up for your Audible trial or just buy the book.
Daring Greatly
Daring Greatly hit #1 on the New Your Times best seller list. Here’s a quote:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; …who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.” (Theodore Roosevelt)
“When we shut ourselves off from vulnerability, we distance ourselves from the experiences that bring purpose and meaning to our lives.”
Dare To Lead
Named one of the best books of the year by Bloomberg. Here’s an excerpt:
“Leadership is not about titles, status, and wielding power. A leader is anyone who takes responsibility for recognizing the potential in people and ideas and has the courage to develop that potential.
When we dare to lead, we don’t pretend to have the right answers, we stay curious and ask the right questions. We don’t avoid difficult conversations and situations, we lean into vulnerability when it’s necessary to do good work.”
The Gifts of Imperfection
Another New York Times bestseller, Dr. Brown offers ten guideposts for finding worthiness and releasing self-consciousness.
The Power of Vulnerability
This one’s all about shifting our perspective about what it means to be vulnerable, and how we can use vulnerability as a pathway to positive change. It’s so good! Especially if you have trouble letting your walls down.
Conclusion
I hope these Brene Brown quotes on shame, vulnerability, and courage brought you inspiration! Here are some other quotes you might enjoy:
Sending you love!
XO, Andrea
Affirmation Phone Wallpapers
Remind yourself of your worthiness throughout the day with this 20-pack of positive affirmations wallpaper for your phone’s lock screen.✨
Andrea Scalisi
Andrea has been practicing Astrology, Numerology, and Tarot for many years. She is a certified Aromatherapist and Reiki Master in Central NY, and also holds a Masters Degree from Syracuse University. Andrea loves helping her readers bring more spiritual self-care into their lives.
Self-care starts here!
Subscribe and I’ll send you a FREE 1-card reading every month. Plus, positive affirmations, moon cycle dates, and self-care tips to help you align with the energy of the season.💖
Self-care starts here!
Subscribe and I’ll send you a FREE 1-card reading every month. Plus, positive affirmations, moon cycle dates, and self-care tips to help you align with the energy of the season.💖
The Haven Shoppe LLC proudly participates in the Amazon affiliate program. This means I receive a nominal commission at no cost to you, when you buy an Amazon product from this page. Thanks for supporting my small business!